Police say shooting that killed 16-month-old was a setup

Baltimore City Police Commissioner Anthony Batts talks about the arrest of a suspect in the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old in Cherry Hill. (Ian Duncan/Baltimore Sun video)

Baltimore City Police Commissioner Anthony Batts talks about the arrest of a suspect in the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old in Cherry Hill. (Ian Duncan/Baltimore Sun video)

Justin George, The Baltimore Sun

Baltimore police believe the Friday-night spray of bullets that killed a 16-month-old boy and wounded his father was a setup, according to court records released Tuesday.

Police have charged Cornell Harvey, 26, and Eddie Tarver, 20, with first- and second-degree murder in the death of Carter Scott. The child's father, Rashaw Scott, 22, was critically injured in the attack.

Father and son were sitting in a red Chevrolet parked at the Cherrydale Apartments in Cherry Hill, police said, when three men wearing latex gloves fired at least 16 shots into the vehicle. Carter Scott was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his leg and was pronounced dead at Johns Hopkins Hospital about an hour after the shooting.

His father was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he underwent surgery. Before the operation, police said, Scott described what happened before the shooting. He said Harvey called him and asked him to pick him up so they could hang out, police said in a charging document.

After Scott arrived, his son in the back seat, police said, Harvey told him to drive to the 1200 block of Cherry Hill Road and park so he could talk to a girl sitting across from them.

Scott told detectives that Harvey got out and began pacing nervously between the car and the girl. Harvey told Scott to "stay here, not too much longer," police said.

Just then, police said, Scott saw a man in a gray Old Navy hoodie. He told detectives he saw three men shooting into the car.

Police patrolling the area heard gunfire and pulled into the apartment complex, where officers saw a man in a hoodie and a man in a white long-sleeve shirt firing at the car. A third man was with them. Officers saw all three bolt.

Police apprehended Tarver after a six-mile chase that involved officers on foot, in patrol cars and a helicopter, police said.

Scott identified Harvey out of a photo array as the man who set him up, police said, and he was arrested. The third suspect has not been caught.

Police have said further arrests are probable.

The attack was a violent start to a Memorial Day weekend that included 12 shootings. Carter Scott's death prompted the mayor and police commissioner to pledge a crackdown on repeat offenders.